Well, not so naughty,
but interesting, at least to me. As most who have read my past blogs know, in the
early 1960s I was sort of bitten by the acting bug. Not so much
bitten, but bored and tired of parties and night clubs every night
- so I enrolled in the Theater of Arts acting school in Santa
Monica.
And from there later to an acting school in Beverly Hills run by the man who had been in charge of a large studio's inhouse acting school. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s all the major studios had their own acting school at their studios - and when they found a young potential future actor, they would put him/her on salary and train them inhouse.
By the early 1960s most studios had stopped this - so this man started his own school in Beverly Hills. And it was interesting. There I learned that my Southern accent was a form of lazy speech. Maybe he was right, or maybe we Southerners know what the English language should sound like.
One related incident happened circa 1963. I was Lawrence in Little Women at a Children's Theater in Encino on Sundays - and one week I was asked to fill in for the man who played Professor Luigi in Pinocchio, the Saturday production.
As I was studying the script, a lady was helping me with my costume, and another lady was teaching me an Italian accent. Finally she threw up her hands and declared, "I start with your Southern accent, try to teach you an Italian accent - and end up with Chinese!" But the performance went on, two times that afternoon.
After Beverly Hills I enrolled in an acting class at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. That class proved to be interesting also. For on the first night when we all introduced ourselves, one lady introduced herself as the wife of Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone. Why she was in a college acting class, I don't know. But why would she lie? For surely folks in the class or the man teaching the class would know if she was not being truthful. And she made our class interesting - every week after class, she was the one leading the whole group to a local club for dancing. Never happened in any of my other classes.
Then last night on YouTube I saw the trailer for the movie "Days of Wine And Roses," and that really took me back. This scene in the photo below is from the beginning of the movie. Jack Lemmon is a high-powered Public Relations man and in this scene he is taking six tall, beautiful blonde call girls to a party on the yacht of a sheik. The six tall, beautiful blonde ladies were actually six models they had hired in San Francisco just for this part of the movie.
At that time in my life, my favorite evening spot was the original El Torito in Toluca Lake, California. Why was this my favorite place? Well, for one, they had great Mexican food, they had Manuel on the Piano Bar, and they had two very talented waiters: Val and Miguel. Val was a tall, handsome Latino who sang popular songs such as La Bamba better than the original - and Miguel was a small guy with a big voice, singing show tunes and even operatic songs.
The clientele was also interesting since the restaurant was near Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, many of the young folks working at the studio patronized this original El Torito. Normally they were not wild, but I will admit that one evening when I came in, a young lady from the studio crowd was dancing on the Piano Bar. Not a regular occurrence though.
Another interesting occurrence happened one evening as we all stood by the main bar chatting while waiting for Manuel to begin on the piano bar. We were all dressed in casual clothing - except for one young guy from the Midwest. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. He mentioned that he was in California attending a school. Naturally someone asked what he was studying - and he, with a straight face, told us, "I am studying to be a mortician." You could have heard a pin drop.
And I mentioned that Manuel was at the Piano Bar which was loaded with all sort of noise makers: bongos, maracas, tambourines, etc. It was fun to sit around the Piano Bar, sing, and make noise while waiting for Val or Miguel to come and truly sing.
One evening I walked into the club and walking past the main bar I noticed a very attractive blonde sitting at the bar with two guys hanging all over her - so I just noticed briefly as I walked on to join Manuel at the Piano Bar. A little while later, that very attractive blonde came to me and asked, "Can I sit by you? Those two guys are really pestering me."
What could I say? No gentleman would refuse to help a lady in such a stressful situation. She sat beside me at the Piano Bar and we chatted, she told me she one of six models hired for the early scenes of the movie "Days of Wine And Roses" which was being filmed at that time. And the next evening we went on a date.
Later that week she told me that one of the other girls who was her friend, had nothing to do that evening, and she wanted to know if I had a friend who could go on a blind date with her. A guy would have to be blind to not accept that date. There was a guy where I worked at Ramo-Wooldridge, a nice looking guy who I thought would fit in well, so I called and arranged for him to join us. Big, big mistake!
That evening we were having dinner, just chatting and having what could have been a nice evening - except this clown was star-struck, "Oh, you are really in this movie? You are an actress and a model?" he repeated with little puppy eyes as he was adoring her - to the point that it was embarrassing. I felt like telling him, "Lighten up! These two beautiful ladies are just flesh and bone like you and me. They are not here to be worshiped." I felt like saying it, but did not. However, I can assure you that I never introduced him to another date again, never!
She was in Los Angeles for about two weeks, then I drove her to the airport and we said goodbye, and except for a couple of phone calls - that was the end of our relationship, gone like the Days of Wine And Roses!
As I said earlier, that was my early somewhat naughty young professional life in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. In my later more mature years I know I have made the right decision, an eternal decision which I happily share with all my family. Yet I do admit, at times the deja vu bug bites me and I look back and wonder - "What if?" Then I dust that deja vu bug off, or as now I write about it, smile, embrace my family, and look for my next inspiration.
My regrets in life are not related to fame, fortune, or many "What ifs." No, I have only two real regrets: First would be the times in my life when I may have hurt someone, for it was never done intentionally. I cannot recall a time in my life when I have purposely chosen to hurt another, although, in hindsight, I can recall times when I look back on a situation now and ask myself, "Did I really do that?" or "Did I really say that?" At the time, I was totally oblivious and had no idea what I was doing was hurtful. If only I could go back and make amends. But God and time do not allow "do overs." That was my first real regret and I have to live with it.
My second real regret was my waiting until I was 50 years old to become a believer. So many time during that 50 years I could have lost the eternal gamble and have been lost for eternity. But praise God, that did not happen. And the experiences of my first 50 years prove helpful in my writing ministry. I have to believe God has always been in control - for within a year of becoming a believer in 1987 - God gave me a Christian writing ministry.
I have long wondered how Roman Catholic priests can offer Marriage Counseling - when they have never been married. Or how a Roman Catholic priest can counsel young people on Sexual Relationships - when they have supposedly never had such a relationship?
Yes, they can offer book knowledge, but which is better, book knowledge, or "Been there, done that!" and can tell you the pitfalls to avoid. My 50 years of walking with the world - allows me to share my experiences of how the world is working to pull folks away from God. Me being a delayed believer, I can use that experience and knowledge in my writing and sharing, hopefully to guide others away from doing the same. And what I share is very often, like this blog, the product of deja vu reminiscing.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
And from there later to an acting school in Beverly Hills run by the man who had been in charge of a large studio's inhouse acting school. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s all the major studios had their own acting school at their studios - and when they found a young potential future actor, they would put him/her on salary and train them inhouse.
By the early 1960s most studios had stopped this - so this man started his own school in Beverly Hills. And it was interesting. There I learned that my Southern accent was a form of lazy speech. Maybe he was right, or maybe we Southerners know what the English language should sound like.
One related incident happened circa 1963. I was Lawrence in Little Women at a Children's Theater in Encino on Sundays - and one week I was asked to fill in for the man who played Professor Luigi in Pinocchio, the Saturday production.
As I was studying the script, a lady was helping me with my costume, and another lady was teaching me an Italian accent. Finally she threw up her hands and declared, "I start with your Southern accent, try to teach you an Italian accent - and end up with Chinese!" But the performance went on, two times that afternoon.
After Beverly Hills I enrolled in an acting class at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. That class proved to be interesting also. For on the first night when we all introduced ourselves, one lady introduced herself as the wife of Rod Serling, creator of The Twilight Zone. Why she was in a college acting class, I don't know. But why would she lie? For surely folks in the class or the man teaching the class would know if she was not being truthful. And she made our class interesting - every week after class, she was the one leading the whole group to a local club for dancing. Never happened in any of my other classes.
Then last night on YouTube I saw the trailer for the movie "Days of Wine And Roses," and that really took me back. This scene in the photo below is from the beginning of the movie. Jack Lemmon is a high-powered Public Relations man and in this scene he is taking six tall, beautiful blonde call girls to a party on the yacht of a sheik. The six tall, beautiful blonde ladies were actually six models they had hired in San Francisco just for this part of the movie.
At that time in my life, my favorite evening spot was the original El Torito in Toluca Lake, California. Why was this my favorite place? Well, for one, they had great Mexican food, they had Manuel on the Piano Bar, and they had two very talented waiters: Val and Miguel. Val was a tall, handsome Latino who sang popular songs such as La Bamba better than the original - and Miguel was a small guy with a big voice, singing show tunes and even operatic songs.
The clientele was also interesting since the restaurant was near Warner Bros Studio in Burbank, many of the young folks working at the studio patronized this original El Torito. Normally they were not wild, but I will admit that one evening when I came in, a young lady from the studio crowd was dancing on the Piano Bar. Not a regular occurrence though.
Another interesting occurrence happened one evening as we all stood by the main bar chatting while waiting for Manuel to begin on the piano bar. We were all dressed in casual clothing - except for one young guy from the Midwest. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. He mentioned that he was in California attending a school. Naturally someone asked what he was studying - and he, with a straight face, told us, "I am studying to be a mortician." You could have heard a pin drop.
And I mentioned that Manuel was at the Piano Bar which was loaded with all sort of noise makers: bongos, maracas, tambourines, etc. It was fun to sit around the Piano Bar, sing, and make noise while waiting for Val or Miguel to come and truly sing.
One evening I walked into the club and walking past the main bar I noticed a very attractive blonde sitting at the bar with two guys hanging all over her - so I just noticed briefly as I walked on to join Manuel at the Piano Bar. A little while later, that very attractive blonde came to me and asked, "Can I sit by you? Those two guys are really pestering me."
What could I say? No gentleman would refuse to help a lady in such a stressful situation. She sat beside me at the Piano Bar and we chatted, she told me she one of six models hired for the early scenes of the movie "Days of Wine And Roses" which was being filmed at that time. And the next evening we went on a date.
Later that week she told me that one of the other girls who was her friend, had nothing to do that evening, and she wanted to know if I had a friend who could go on a blind date with her. A guy would have to be blind to not accept that date. There was a guy where I worked at Ramo-Wooldridge, a nice looking guy who I thought would fit in well, so I called and arranged for him to join us. Big, big mistake!
That evening we were having dinner, just chatting and having what could have been a nice evening - except this clown was star-struck, "Oh, you are really in this movie? You are an actress and a model?" he repeated with little puppy eyes as he was adoring her - to the point that it was embarrassing. I felt like telling him, "Lighten up! These two beautiful ladies are just flesh and bone like you and me. They are not here to be worshiped." I felt like saying it, but did not. However, I can assure you that I never introduced him to another date again, never!
She was in Los Angeles for about two weeks, then I drove her to the airport and we said goodbye, and except for a couple of phone calls - that was the end of our relationship, gone like the Days of Wine And Roses!
As I said earlier, that was my early somewhat naughty young professional life in the City of Angels, Los Angeles. In my later more mature years I know I have made the right decision, an eternal decision which I happily share with all my family. Yet I do admit, at times the deja vu bug bites me and I look back and wonder - "What if?" Then I dust that deja vu bug off, or as now I write about it, smile, embrace my family, and look for my next inspiration.
My regrets in life are not related to fame, fortune, or many "What ifs." No, I have only two real regrets: First would be the times in my life when I may have hurt someone, for it was never done intentionally. I cannot recall a time in my life when I have purposely chosen to hurt another, although, in hindsight, I can recall times when I look back on a situation now and ask myself, "Did I really do that?" or "Did I really say that?" At the time, I was totally oblivious and had no idea what I was doing was hurtful. If only I could go back and make amends. But God and time do not allow "do overs." That was my first real regret and I have to live with it.
My second real regret was my waiting until I was 50 years old to become a believer. So many time during that 50 years I could have lost the eternal gamble and have been lost for eternity. But praise God, that did not happen. And the experiences of my first 50 years prove helpful in my writing ministry. I have to believe God has always been in control - for within a year of becoming a believer in 1987 - God gave me a Christian writing ministry.
I have long wondered how Roman Catholic priests can offer Marriage Counseling - when they have never been married. Or how a Roman Catholic priest can counsel young people on Sexual Relationships - when they have supposedly never had such a relationship?
Yes, they can offer book knowledge, but which is better, book knowledge, or "Been there, done that!" and can tell you the pitfalls to avoid. My 50 years of walking with the world - allows me to share my experiences of how the world is working to pull folks away from God. Me being a delayed believer, I can use that experience and knowledge in my writing and sharing, hopefully to guide others away from doing the same. And what I share is very often, like this blog, the product of deja vu reminiscing.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill
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